http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/09.htm
August 9th, 1943 (MONDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: New Zealand fighter pilot Johnny Checketts of 611 Sqn RAF, shoots down three Messerschmitt Bf109s in a single action. This will result in him being awarded the DSO.
In England, the USAAF VIII Air Support Command Missions 16A and 16B. 72 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to the Ft Rouge Airfield at St Omer, France; clouds prevent bombing and only 1 aircraft hits the target at 1904 hours.
Escort carrier HMS Empress commissioned.
GERMANY: Kreisau, Silesia: Count Helmut von Moltke convenes a group of German dissidents, who declare their desire to overthrow the Nazi regime.
Some 20 high-ranking individuals have banded together to form a group dedicated to the overthrow of National Socialism in Germany. Calling themselves the Kreisau Circle, after the Kreisau estate belonging to a leading member, Count Helmuth James von Moltke, they have now drawn up a list of principles for post-Nazi reform.
Among the points in this draft document are: “1. Justice, which has been trampled on, must be restored ... 2. Freedom of belief and freedom of conscience will be guaranteed ... 3. Destruction of totalitarian direction of conscience and acknowledgement of the inviolability of human dignity as the foundation for an order of peace and justice ...4. The basic unit for peaceful co-existence is the family... 5. work must be so designed that it arouses the desire for personal responsibility rather than stultifying it...”
DENMARK: Eric Scavenius, the Prime Minister, refuses to accept German demands that alleged saboteurs should be sent to Germany for trial.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS Simoom attacked Italian cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi off La Spezia. The torpedoes missed the cruiser but hit and sank the destroyer Vincenzo Gioberti.
TURKEY: Ankara: Hungary and Britain reach a secret agreement; Hungary will not fire on Allied aircraft flying to Italy, and the Allies will not bomb Hungarian targets.
SOLOMON ISLANDS: The USAAF’s Thirteenth Air Force dispatches10 B-25 Mitchells, with fighter cover, to bomb Vila on Kolombangara Island. Shortly thereafter 22 B-24s strike the same target.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, 1 USAAF B-24 Liberator of the Eleventh Air Force flies photo reconnaissance over various Kiska Island sites.
CANADA: Minesweeper HMS Coquette ex HMCS Bowmanville laid down Toronto, Ontario.
U.S.A.: Destroyer USS De Haven laid down
Destroyer escort USS Gunason laid down
Destroyer escort USS Liddle launched
Destroyer escort USS Newman launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The German submarine U-664 is sunk 570 miles (917 km) west of the Azores, in position 40.12N, 37.29W, by depth charges from 2 USN TBF Avengers of Composite Squadron One (VC-1) in the escort aircraft carrier USS Card (CVE-11). 44 of the 51 crewman on the U-boat survive.
Interesting write up on Patton and the soldier slapping incident.